My Nerdy Lover

It all started my freshman year of college. I was enrolled in choir. That's where I met Jeff. Quite honestly, my original impression of him was "Whoa. That is such an ugly girl." You see, Jeff had hair that was far longer than mine, far past his waist in millions of tiny little ringlets. He wore glasses, and didn't have very much fashion sense. Every day he wore the same pair of beat up converse and a red plaid hoodie. (Eventually I learned he was in fact, a boy). I never really thought much about him. I saw him all the time, but never really talked to him-he was just always there in the background.

Several months later, I made my college acting debut-I got the lead role in a play, and I nailed it. I was the newly discovered talent on campus. A few days later, I bumped into Jeff. He stopped me to say "Hey, I saw the show, you can really act. That was awesome!" I said thanks. After so many months, this was the first thing I said to him, ever. Later that night I was still mulling it over in my head. Huh. How strange that I could see someone daily and still know nothing about them. So I added him on facebook. Did I stalk his profile? You bet. I looked all his information. This guy was definitely a nerd, no doubt about that. But we shared a lot of the same opinions. I also realized that he was also very intelligent, not to mention, he seemed to have a great sense of humor. Eventually I stopped myself. This poor guy only said two sentences to me, he doesn't deserve to be creeped on! So I minded my own business, only occasionally liking his facebook posts when he had something interesting to say.

Then on a boring Saturday night, I was sitting alone in my dorm, when a message popped up-it was Jeff.
"Hi". he said. "What's up?" And this was the beginning of a two hour conversation. At first, it was a bit awkward, we didn't know each other, and didn't really know what to say. But eventually, we found so much to say we couldn't stop! Eventually we both went to bed. I thought about him all night. And tried desperately to convince myself that I didn't have a crush on him. Something about this boy was absolutely fascinating to me.

The next time I saw him, all of his long wild hair was gone. Now he had a simple crew cut. A week later during one of our facebook chats which had become a daily thing, he said, "Do you think I would look better with contacts?" A rather random question to ask, really. So I said "Yeah, probably. But's it's your life, so do what you want." The next day, his glasses were gone.

But he wasn't the only one who was changing. I was in a new production, a musical. And my director demanded that I cut off my long beautiful hair for my role. All of it. I came home from the salon crying. I looked like a boy. But I didn't complain to anyone. I just accepted it, while secretly hating how I looked. Later that night, Jeff made sure to tell me that while he didn't usually like short hair, I still looked cute with my new hair. Never in my life had I been so excited by a compliment.

After almost a month of facebook chat, I still hadn't said much to him in the real world. But that was about to change. Jeff was throwing a party. A dance party! Being the wild freshman girl I was, I was all in. At this point in my life, I was all about getting tipsy and dancing, meeting cute guys. I was ready for a good time.

It turns out, Jeff knew how to throw a hell of a party. His house was packed, everyone was having a good time, and there were drinks everywhere. I never expected that kind of party from the guy who was allergic to cats. I was clearly there for Jeff, but I was still kind of afraid. But after a few Jello shots and a pep talk from my gay friend Michael, Jeff and I were having a great time together. I could tell that he still couldn't believe reality the minute I started grinding him. I can still remember the moment of confusion and disbelief on his face that was quickly wiped away by another expression that said, "Alright, let's do this!"

Later that night we were outside getting some fresh air. I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I stopped him mid-sentence to kiss him. We only stopped when Michael told me we had to go, because one of my friends was absolutely wasted. So I reluctantly left to help put my friend to bed. Later, the rest of us continued drinking. By this time everyone had left the party, I told Jeff to come over. That night ended with me and my roommate dragging our mattresses out into the living room so that all five of us could sleep together. That night I fell asleep in Jeff's arms. When I woke up shivering, he only held me tighter. Yep, I was crazy about him.

That night was the beginning of something great. Shortly after that we all left for the summer, but Jeff and I kept in touch. We talked every day, and I just kept discovering more and more about him that I just absolutely loved. We went back to college for our sophomore semester and decided to make our relationship official. It hasn't been long yet, only three months. But it's been the best three months of my life. I've seen his collection of all the original Pokemon cards (including extras), I've learned the meaning behind his Xbox tattoo, I've listened to him talk politics, I've heard him play bass on a daily basis, He's tried to explain music theory concepts to me countless times (even though I still don't understand any of it), We've watched all sorts of documentaries about every topic under the sun. I can name all of his idols to you: Carl Sagan, Viktor Wooten, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Dawkins. I know exactly how much he loves Zelda video games and listening to Jazz. And I love everything about him, even the gap in his teeth that he hates.